The 5.56 X 45mm “Timeline” – 1982

A Chronology of Development by Daniel E. Watters

1982

Under Secretary of the US Army James R. Ambrose endorses a potential 10-12 year rifle development program, which leads to a new Future Rifle Program and the eventual Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) program.

At Picatinny, Vince De Siena and MAJ Dave Lutz (USMC) machine off the carrying handle of a M16A1 upper receiver, affix a commercial Weaver scope rail, and then mount a Kahles 1.5x optic. Tasked with the supervision of the M16A1(PIP) program, MAJ Lutz lobbies for the addition of an optic-capable flat-top receiver into the list of improvements incorporated in the M16A1(PIP). (Lutz also believes that this prototype may have been the genesis of the later Canadian flat-top project, due to his sharing an office with the Canadian Army Liaison Officer to JSSAP, MAJ Rick Wilson.)

April:
The USMC‘s Firepower Division releases “Final Report: Test Results, Analysis, and Recommendations of Testing Conducted on the M16A1E1 Service Rifle.” Not surprisingly, the Marines are very pleased since the rifles were effectively made to order.

The US Army awards a $26,000 delivery order to Colt related to the M16. The Army also awards a $1,600,000 delivery order to Colt for FMS.

ARRADCOM‘s Fire Control and Small Caliber Weapon Systems Laboratory (Picatinny) publishes the first volume of a two volume report “Investigations Concerning the Reloading of 5.56-MM Ball Ammunition.”

May:
The DOD awards a contract to FN to provide the data necessary to complete a TDP for the M249. This does not include data regarding manufacturing techniques.

July:
The US Army awards a $12,000 contract to Colt related to the M16. The Army also awards a $70,000 contract modification related to the 1967 Licensing Agreement.

Aberdeen’s HEL issues the report “Some Human Factors Considerations in the Design of a Combat Rifle.” The report presents views on some of the human factors considerations in the design of a modern combat rifle. It draws upon previous HEL testing over the past 25 years. A figure is included showing a hypothetical combat rifle configuration embodying desirable human factors characteristics.

Picatinny publishes the final volume of the report “Investigations Concerning the Reloading of 5.56-MM Ball Ammunition.”

Colt informs the US State Department that the South Korean Ministry of National Defense has stopped paying royalty fees. The Ministry states that payments had ceased because certain M16 patents held by Colt had expired.

Picatinny’s Fire Control and Small Caliber Weapon Systems Lab awards 25-month contracts to HK ($3.8 million) and AAI ($3.3 million) for development of an Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR). HK‘s entry is their 4.73mm caseless G11 rifle, while AAI pursues their own caseless rifle system, which bears more than a spitting image to the XM70. AAI’s 5.56mm cartridges, developed in conjunction with Hercules Powder Company, offers a 70gr “heavy-bullet” load along with a sabot load using the old .17 caliber micro-bullet. (This is not the same system that AAI submits for the late-1980s ACR trials.)

December:
The US Army awards a $713,000 contract to Colt related to the M16.

The Mellonics Systems Development Division based at Fort Benning publishes a rebuttal to the USMC‘s adoption of the M16A2. Fault is found with nearly every change made, even the decision to modify the rate of twist for the use of XM855 and XM856 ammunition. Another bit of nit-picking decries the lack compatibility of the 1-in-7″ twist for use with the M261 .22LR conversion unit.

Phase A of British Ordnance Board Trials ends for the IW/LSW. Several bolt carriers have cracked and fractured during testing, with as low as 287 rounds fired. During cold chamber testing, one IW barrel splits lengthwise from the chamber to the gas port. Reliability is also quite disappointing. The IW turns in a MRBS of 175, the open bolt LSW tallies 339 MRBS, and the closed bolt LSW turns in a more respectable 1,356 MRBS. The Ordnance Board plays fast and loose with the figures, counting only the most severe stoppages/failures (those unable to be cleared or fixed by the user) for only the endurance phase of testing. By doing so, they exactly achieve the 2,500 MRBF for the IW required by GSR 3518. However, no amount of refiguring can push the LSW anywhere close to its 8,000 MRBF requirement with the open bolt LSW posting 2,713 MRBF and the closed bolt LSW tallying 4,746 MRBF.

With TGZ’s closure in early 2017, Dean encouraged me to find a new home for my scholarship so it wouldn’t be lost in the dustbin of the Internet. Loose Rounds has welcomed me with open arms. In the future, I intend to expand my legacy TGZ articles and add new contributions here at Loose Rounds.